


Of Red, Black, and Gold

by Chxlsy



Category: Gravity Falls, モブサイコ100 | Mob Psycho 100
Genre: Esper Shenanigans, Friendship, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sibling Bonding, will tag characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-15 06:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18493303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chxlsy/pseuds/Chxlsy
Summary: Ritsu knew this vacation was a bad idea. Nothing ever really went right when it came to anything the Kageyama brothers were involved in. He had been about to tell his parents that, too, but then he saw the hopeful look on his brother's face and kept his silence.Now they were stuck in some town in the middle of Nowhere, Oregon and everything was going wrong, but at least the locals are nice.





	1. LWV JRQQD JHW D OLWWOH ZHLUG!

Fire. Blue, raging fire that b u r n s everyone in its path, and reaches out towards her and she can feel her skin boil and she _s c r **e a m s** -_

 

 

A figure. A figure of a boy whose hair floats wildly around his head, and his eyes a milky white. Kageyama’s older brother jerks around as if pulled by marionette strings and the ground cracks below his feet and she can barely hear the screams of the dying over the maniacal laughter that _e c h o e s_ through her ears and they **_b_** _l e **e d**_ -

 

 

A black triangle, in a gray landscape. A single, white eye opens and stares through her very **_s o u_** _l_ -

 

 

* * *

 

Rei jolts awake as the laughter fades into her subconscious. She breathes heavily, panting in the darkness of her room. The clock by her bedside reads 3:00 am, but she barely feels exhaustion tugging at her eyes. She sits there and breathes. Her room and the world outside are pitch dark, with only the streetlights casting shadows through her window.

She takes only a moment more to compose herself before throwing her sheets off and stumbling to her feet. Her phone rests on her desk and she gropes in the dark for it. The light of Rei’s screen nearly blinds her, and she squints at her contacts. Her finger finds Kageyama’s number and Rei’s already starting her message before she remembers.

_Oh. He’s on vacation._

Now that the terror of her dream has faded and Rei can think more clearly, she looks away from her phone and stares out the window. She feels a bit silly, now. Here she was, about to ruin Kageyama’s vacation just because of a _dream._ He and his family took the week off they were given to try and escape the horror of what happened last week, and she was about to ruin it for him. Rei was probably being paranoid; she most likely hasn’t recovered from the devastation that swept through the city as a result of Claw’s delusions of grandeur- well. She wasn’t going to worry her friend with a vague dream that was likely spawned from her subconscious mind trying to cope with Claw’s attempt to conquer the world.

Her mind made up, she deletes her message and shuts off her phone before tucking herself back into bed.

Six thousand miles away, Ritsu Kageyama’s phone remains silent on the table beside his bed in the only worn motel in Gravity Falls, Oregon.

 

* * *

 

Ritsu wakes to a bird hitting the window.

Depressingly, that was not the oddest nor the most surprising thing to happen in his six days visiting the town of Gravity Falls. Yesterday morning, he was woken by creatures that looked suspiciously like garden gnomes jumping out of the previously-not-open window, and the day before Ritsu and his brother were accosted by robed figures after witnessing a giant tentacle rising out of the local lake and swiping a boat. The figures gave up after thirty minutes of pointlessly banging their fists against his barrier and yelling. Dimple had found the whole experience to be positively hilarious.

“Ritsu? Are you okay?”

Ritsu turns to find Shigeo standing by the door to the bathroom, tilting his head. Ritsu couldn’t help the warm smile that spread across his face even if he wanted to, a reaction that has been happening ever since he saw his brother get flung around like a ragdoll by a man whose red aura sent spikes of fear through his very being. Seeing his brother so close to being killed shook him to his core, and the heart stopping moment when the explosion ended, and he realized Shigeo wasn’t there and _Reigen was running back towards the clearing dust-_

“Ritsu?” Shigeo asks again, and Ritsu jumps slightly when Shigeo rests a hand on his shoulder.

“Ah- I’m fine, Shige. Just thought the little creatures came back.” Ritsu says, and Shigeo holds his gaze for a moment more before nodding and moving towards his own bed. Ritsu stretches and stands before heading towards the bathroom, swiping his phone off the nightstand on his way.

 

* * *

 

 

 “Mom says we’re leaving around 2 o’clock, and Dimple agreed to meet us at 1 for lunch, so we have two hours to do anything we want.” Ritsu says, and squints at the town map in his hands. Shigeo is standing by his side, peering over his shoulder. They were standing on a corner across from a diner and as Ritsu watches, three tiny balls of light lift a pie cooling on the windowsill and float towards the woods with it. Shigeo looks up from scrutinizing the map and frowns at the heist unfolding across the empty street. Ritsu watches as his brother lifts a hand and his aura envelops it, and the balls of light give high-pitched squeaks of dismay as the pie is tugged from their greedy hands and floated back to the windowsill. When they go for it again, this time it’s Ritsu who raises his hand, and he slams the window shut with the pie safely inside.

“I wonder what those are.” Ritsu muses before turning away and beginning to walk. Shigeo hurries to catch up. “Anyway, I was thinking that we could maybe take a visit to the abandoned convenience store across town. It says here that it’s rumored to be haunted, and if that’s true I can use it as practice to exorcising evil spirits-“ Ritsu gets cut off as a pink blur races past him, and suddenly Shigeo is being assaulted by a girl with long brown hair and a smile wide enough that it nearly stretches across her entire face. She’s speaking rapid English to Shigeo, and Ritsu can barely comprehend what she’s saying.

“-Ohmy _gosh_ , your sweatshirt has a puppy on it! Where did you get it? Are you single? I love dogs too! In fact, my cat once tackled a Great Dane, and managed to climb on his back and ride around and around- “The girl was barely taking a breath, and Shigeo was staring helplessly at Ritsu with wide eyes. Ritsu can’t help but grin as Shigeo holds up his hands and begins to motion frantically for her to slow down.

Finally, Ritsu takes pity on his older brother and taps the girl’s shoulder. She turns her head to look at him, but her hands continue to squish Shigeo’s in a vice grip. “You have to speak slower. He doesn’t understand you,” Ritsu says, and the girl’s eyes widen in understanding and she turns back to Shigeo.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! My name is Mabel, and I like your sweatshirt!” The gi-Mabel beams at his brother, and Shigeo blinks as he works to translate and understand what she’s saying. While his brother thinks of a response, Ritsu takes the time to study the girl who’s practically bouncing in excitement. Her smile shows off metal bands in her teeth, and the pink sweater has the design of a shooting star knitted onto the front of it. Overall, she was very… Colorful. Ritsu feels as though he should be squinting in order to look at her.

“Thank you. My name is Mob, and this is my little brother Ritsu.” Shigeo hold out his hand, and Mabel squeals and shakes it with both of hers. She begins to babble excitedly about dogs, and… brothers? Ritsu can barely understand her, and his brother looks close to passing out. That’s when Ritsu notices another person jogging up from the direction Mabel came from, looking exasperated. The newcomer grabs Mabel by the sweater and pulls her away from Shigeo.

“Mabel, do you have to do this to every guy that lives in this town? Did you learn nothing from the other day?”

“These guys probably aren’t gnomes! Maybe. I haven’t checked,” Mabel turns towards Ritsu and bats her eyelashes at him, “this is my twin, Dipper. He wants to know if you guys are a bunch of gnomes in disguise.” The newly-introduced Dipper smacks his palm soundly against his forehead.

Ritsu raises his eyebrows at the question, but considering he saw what looked like gnomes jump out of the motel window the other day… “No, we’re not. And we don’t live in town, either-we’re on our last day of vacationing here. My brother and I are from Japan, specifically Spice City.” Ritsu explains, and Mabel gasps and claps her hands.

“Your last day? Have you visited the Mystery Shack yet? Our great uncle runs it; we can show you now-,” Mabel cuts herself off when she sees her brother start to shake his head, “or not. Sorry, I forgot we ditched work… and that Grunkle Stan is probably really mad at us for ruining his suit with glitter glue.” Ritsu doesn’t want to ask.

“That’s okay, we’ll check it out. It was nice meeting you.” Ritsu says, and Mabel flashes a blinding smile and finally abandons Shigeo’s hands… to grab Ritsu’s instead. He winces as she begins to shake them hard enough to hurt.

“Before you go, can we exchange numbers? I’ve always wanted a pen pal from another country! Or a texting pal? There aren’t any pens involved… unless we write each other letters too!” Mabel gushes, letting go of hands long enough to pull out a flip phone and shove it into Ritsu’s grip. Ritsu holds out for only a few seconds before sighing and entering his phone number, surprisingly weak under Mabel’s hopeful gaze. It might do some good for Shigeo to have a friend in the States to practice English with, after all.

He’s drawing the line at letters, however.

Ritsu finishes entering his number and hands the phone back to Mabel. She grabs it and begins to excitedly talk at him about the worrying number of messages she’s going to send, and Ritsu feels fear for his parent’s phone bill. Thankfully, her twin finally gives up on using words to convince her to leave and nabs her sweater sleeve, pulling her along with only a quiet “bye” in his wake.

His brother watches them go with a wistful look in his eye, and Ritsu is just about to ask when he says, “they were nice. Ritsu, are you going to talk with her?” Ritsu hums in response and takes his brother’s arm, leading him towards the direction Mabel indicated the so-called “Mystery Shack” was. Ritsu doubts it’ll be any more mysterious than his life is normally.  

 

* * *

 

  _The only mystery_ , Ritsu thinks as he squints at yet another overpriced bobblehead, _is how this guy managed to outcon_ Reigen _._

The tour that he and his brother paid an absurd amount of money for was a complete bust. Ritsu was left gaping as the other tourists ate up the lies the old man was feeding them about ridiculous creatures. Honestly, Ritsu could even see the runoff of glue from the joints on most of the “attractions.”

The only redeeming quality was that Dimple had joined them halfway through the tour, and spent the rest of it taking full advantage of the fact that no one could hear him to heckle the old man. Currently, the spirit was “helping” Shigeo pick out a souvenir. Ritsu doesn't doubt that the ugly bumper sticker Shigeo was holding was going to end up stuck somewhere either on Reigen’s person or his possessions.

Which was why Ritsu was even allowing him to convince Shigeo to buy it. Ritsu’s train of thought breaks off when his phone buzzes, and he pulls it out.

“Shigeo, we have to leave soon. Mom says she and Dad are finished packing; they're on their way to pick us up here.” Shigeo nods and moves towards the cashier with two bumper stickers in tow much to Dimple’s apparent delight. Ritsu waits by the door while Shigeo pays the redheaded cashier, who looks as though she'd rather be reading the magazine resting on the countertop besides her. Shigeo waves goodbye to the girl as Dimple ushers him towards the door.

“Finally. I thought I'd die again if I spent another second in that eyesore.” Dimple floats over to Ritsu and elbows his shoulder. “You think Reigen’ll be jealous that we met a conman sleazier than him?” Ritsu snorts and while Shigeo does look disapproving, Ritsu notes he doesn't try to defend his teacher. They sit in silence, and Ritsu takes the time to survey the woods that surround the property. The tour took them through some of the outskirts of the dense woods, but Ritsu noticed that the old tour guide was adamant they stay together and not stray from the path. Sitting on the steps outside the Shack, Ritsu could see-or rather, feel- why. There was something wild and dangerous about the forest, and Ritsu could feel that energy nipping at his own aura almost playfully. He glances at his brother, and wonders if he feels it too. Their rental car pulls up to the lot just then, and their mom waves from the driver’s side of the van. Shigeo goes in first, and Ritsu takes a final glance at the forest surrounding the shack before following.

As their mom pulls away and starts down the road, Dimple abandons his post by Shigeo’s shoulder to slip through the closed car door and fly ahead of them. Ritsu’s eyes follow him until he disappears among the foliage.

“Dimple is going to look at the barrier. He hasn't had the chance to since getting here.” Shigeo says suddenly. Ritsu frowns in confusion before remembering, and he nods to his brother before settling back into his seat to stare out the window.

 

* * *

 

The barrier was…. interesting. They only saw it around 30 meters before they hit the town of Gravity Falls, and it seemed to extend as far as they could see in all directions. It almost looked like a psychic barrier, but they passed through it without incident. Ritsu remembered that only Shigeo reacted oddly to passing through, and even then, it was only a small gasp. Their parents didn't even see it.

Ritsu leans to look out the front window as they approach the part of the road where the barrier rests. Ritsu notices how it seems to be a darker brown on the inside wall, and that it seems to be getting darker as they approach. He watches as a green blob detached from the side they were approaching from and flies towards them. Dimple slips seamlessly through the windshield, his eyes wide and frantic. Ritsu can barely understand him, and it takes precious seconds to decipher his shouts.

“-stop the car! Shigeo, _stop the car!_ ”

Shigeo’s eyes widen and his aura flashes. Ritsu feels it envelop the car, and it screeches to a stop only a meter from the barrier. Their parents are shouting, but Ritsu is already scrambling out of his seat and pushing the door open. He stumbles, and he can already see Shigeo moving the car to the side of the road and trying to talk to their frantic parents, but his eyes are on the shifting wall of brown only a few inches away. He raises his hand, and it shakes slightly as he presses it against the barrier.

The barrier, which was tangible only a week before.

 

  
The barrier, _which he can feel, down to his very being, will not let them leave_.


	2. MLG GSV LMOB KHBXSRXH RM TIZERGB UZOOH!

Shigeo opens his eyes and lifts his head from the solid wall of energy he was resting it on. He can hear his brother talking to his parents, and Dimple has long since left to try and find an opening towards the top of the barrier. Shigeo knows he won't find anything.

Shigeo wasn't certain why neither Ritsu nor Dimple could feel the barrier as well as he could. He felt it, when he first went through it a week ago. It felt so very odd, very _ancient_ , and he thought Ritsu and Dimple felt the sudden shift in the energy surrounding them as well. Maybe if he told them, they wouldn't be trapped in here. Ritsu would've realized the effects of staying in this air charged with wild energy. Shigeo closes his eyes and _breathes_.

_50%_

A hand touches his shoulder and Shigeo flinches away. He feels a surge of guilt that fades just as quickly when he sees Ritsu’s hurt expression, but it's gone from his brother’s face before he could even think to apologize.

“Shige? What… did you feel? Can you break it?”

Shigeo turns back to the barrier and stares at the swirling energy. He knows what Ritsu wants to hear, and Shigeo doesn't want to fail his brother. Not again. But he _can't_ break it.

Shigeo knows he's been silent too long when Ritsu’s face falls. He doesn't know what to say, and he doesn't get a chance to even attempt to comfort his brother before Ritsu turns away and walks back to their parents. Shigeo watches him go, and despairs, because he should have _noticed_.

_62%_

 

* * *

 

The drive back to their motel was filled with tension, and Shigeo is glad when they arrive. His dad helps Ritsu unload his and Shigeo’s shared suitcase while his mom disappears back into the main office to negotiate for their room back. Shigeo isn’t sure how she'll convince them to rent out the room for the foreseeable future, but he doesn't doubt that he and Ritsu will be sleeping there tonight.

_Without Mom and Dad in the next room._

Their parents would be catching a later flight back to Japan that night. It was one of the things they argued about with Ritsu while driving back to the motel, but they can't take vacation days off to stay with them until they find a way to circumvent the barrier, and both Shigeo and Ritsu knew it. Their parents weren't espers, so they could pass through the barrier easily. It was decided during the car ride that they would head back to Japan and try to convince their teachers to allow them to take their final exams online. Shigeo is sure they'll allow Ritsu to, but he hopes his teachers don't give his parents a hard time over his grades and missing school.

His mother comes out of the office with two key cards in hand. She hands them to Ritsu and goes to stand by their father. An awkward silence falls, and Shigeo shifts his weight from foot to foot.

“Oh, be careful, alright? I want you to video call us. Every. Night. Study hard for your exams, Shige, and please, try to find out why you can't leave when summer starts,” their mom says as she opens her arms and Shigeo goes willingly, pressing himself into her side. He can feel Ritsu struggling weakly from beside him, but he gives up when their dad joins in and squeezes them both. “Honestly, you boys…. one of these days, I'm going to find out why this keeps happening to you two and _put a stop to it._ ” She pulls away after a few more seconds, and ruffles Ritsu’s hair.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to convince our bosses to give us more vacation time so we can come and stay with you boys. For now, the motel owner knows and promises to keep an eye on you until we can come back. Take care of each other, okay? And remember, every night!” His father ruffles his and Ritsu’s hair after speaking. Shigeo watches him tug his mother towards the car and feels an immeasurable amount of guilt when he sees his father’s wet eyes. Their parents climb into the rental, and he sees his parents waving as they pull out of the parking lot.

Shigeo and his brother stand there waving right back until the car is well out of sight. Ritsu is the one to finally lower his hand and rest it on Shigeo’s shoulder, gently pulling him back towards the room they only just vacated this morning.

_70%_

 

* * *

 

Shigeo wakes when the sun is barely peeking over the horizon.

He’s used to waking at this time. Ever since the exorcism at the Asagiri Mansion, his dreams are often filled with the jeering of hollow classmates, and the screeching of hundreds of evil spirits tearing at him, tearing long gashes through his torso and tearing his limbs off as he struggles and thrashes with _pain pain **pain**_ -no. He didn’t hurt right now except for a crick in his neck and the empty feeling of losing his parents again, never mind that they were perfectly fine, just not with him. Shigeo thought his dreams were becoming scarce but seeing Mogami again drudged up all his fears and now they were back, with no signs of improvement. In fact, he had held the hope that getting away from Spice City would quiet his nightmares into something more manageable, but instead they seem to be getting worse.

“Shigeo, you awake?” Dimple floats into Shigeo’s field of vision. He looks the same as ever, and Shigeo feels guilty for feeling glad that at least he and Ritsu were with him.

“Shigeo?” Dimple asks, floating closer to his head. Dimple pokes Shigeo’s cheek.  “Why’re you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?”

Shigeo tolerates the treatment for only a few seconds before waving him away, and Dimple goes with a huff to hover over Ritsu. He gets up and stretches his arms before moving towards the bathroom to get ready for the day, only stopping to take clothes from the suitcase they have yet to unpack. Just before the door closes, he hears Ritsu shriek, “Dimple, what the- it’s only 8:30! Why are you waking me up with _water_? I’ll get my brother to exorcise you!”

_70%_

 

* * *

 

Shigeo sits with his legs crossed on the bed and watches as Ritsu finishes toweling off his hair from the impromptu shower Dimple gave him. The spirit was nowhere to be seen, having left to interrogate the local spirits. Ritsu wanted to do the same, but the loud rumble of his stomach was enough to convince him to at least stop by the local diner for breakfast first.

“Shige, you ready to go?”

Ritsu pauses by the door, the credit card their mother had left them in his hand. Shigeo nods and gets up, following his brother out the door after slipping his shoes on. The motel owner had agreed to allow them use of their kitchen, provided they buy their own groceries, but Shigeo didn’t really feel like cooking so early in the morning.

The walk there was spent in comfortable silence, only interrupted by the occasional honk of a car or the whisper of a weak spirit. Mostly, Shigeo uses the time to pay more attention to the feel of the energy running rampant throughout the town. Now that he is looking for it, he realizes how different it is compared to the outside of the barrier. It feels condensed, thick and wild compared to the smooth flow of back home. His own aura is shifting noticeably under his skin as if aching to be let loose, but Shigeo squashes the feeling down. It’s been happening all week, and Shigeo now knows at least part of the reason why. He’s sure Ritsu will figure it out fully, however. Ritsu has always been the better problem solver between them.

“Oh, it’s you two! Hi! I thought you left!” For the second time in only two days Shigeo finds himself accosted by a bubbly girl. The same bubbly girl, to be exact. Mabel is wearing a blue sweater with sparkles today, but Shigeo recognizes the voice and the smile from yesterday. Shigeo doesn’t even have time to say hello back before Mabel is turning and running the way she came.

He blinks and turns to Ritsu. Ritsu looks just as confused as Shigeo feels, but before Shigeo could ask Mabel is back, this time toting her twin brother along.

“Are you guys getting breakfast too? Wanna sit together?” Mabel asks as she grabs Shigeo’s hand and drags him alongside her brother. Shigeo looks helplessly over his shoulder, but Ritsu merely shrugs his shoulders and follows them into the diner.

Mabel leads him and Dipper towards a booth in the corner, tucked away from most of the other tables. There were only a few people sitting in the diner and none of them look up as Mabel marches them by. She shoves Dipper into the bench and slides in next to him and gestures to the seat across from her, smiling widely. Shigeo hesitates, and Ritsu finally takes pity on him and sits first.

Shigeo settles himself next to Ritsu and opens the menu while his brother begins a quiet conversation with Dipper. He can’t hope to follow what they’re saying with his subpar spoken skills, but reading English is relatively easy. He supposes he has his and Hanazawa’s tutoring sessions to thank.

“So, why’re you guys still here, anyways? I was planning on texting you tonight! Was your vacation extended?” Shigeo looks up from the menu and startles when he sees Mabel's face inches from his own. Ritsu pauses his conversation with Dipper to turn his attention to them, and Shigeo sweats under the scrutiny of the entire table.

“Oh. It’s because we… couldn’t leave.” Shigeo says, and pauses to gather his thoughts before continuing. “The… barrier? Wouldn’t let us.”

“What? What barrier? Is there a blockade? Did someone escape from the county prison? But I’m sure it would be on the local news…” Dipper’s brows furrow, and Shigeo is hopelessly confused. He stares at Dipper trying to translate what he said until Ritsu takes pity on him and answers for him.

“No. The barrier surrounding the town and its forest. You probably can’t see it, since you don’t have psychic powers like me and my brother.”

The two across from Shigeo and Ritsu are now the ones looking confused. Dipper opens his mouth as if to reply but is interrupted by the spoons on the table floating upwards and towards Ritsu, spinning lazy circles around his head. Mabel makes a choking sound and Shigeo looks over to her, in fear that she has finally choked on the strange concoction that she had ordered from the waitress.

That fear is proven to be unfounded when she jumps up and grabs her brother in excitement, and Shigeo watches as she practically throttles him in her glee while making high-pitched squeaking sounds. Dipper isn’t looking much better, with his mouth agape and his hands flailing. Ritsu looks immensely amused. Shigeo just wants his pancakes to arrive.

“Oh my gosh you have psychic powers- okay, what? Did you always have them? Are they connected to this town? Are they-” Dipper continues to question Ritsu relentlessly, and Shigeo is faring much better against Mabel. She has abandoned shaking her brother to instead shake the table, and Shigeo has to use his own powers to prevent their drinks from falling over. This only serves to make both siblings more excited and Dipper whips out a journal with a faded handprint on the cover. Shigeo is reaching out to steady the table when their waitress arrives with plates heaped with food, and he desperately reaches for the distraction she presents him with.

“Can we talk after we eat?”

_73%._

 

* * *

 

One pancake breakfast later, and Shigeo is feeling pleasantly sleepy. Most of breakfast was spent in transfixed horror as Shigeo and his brother watched Mabel whip out several plastic bags filled with glitter, sprinkles, and chocolate shavings only to dump each bag onto her pancakes. Dipper didn’t even blink, so Shigeo guessed this was normal.

“So. Psychic powers. How.” Shigeo blinks at the abrupt question from Dipper. The four of them are currently walking in town, heading towards the motel.

“Oh. Well, I’ve always had my powers. They don’t help me that much, so I don’t use them often.” Shigeo says, and Dipper looking up from his journal with an incredulous expression on his face.

“How don’t they help you? They’re psychic powers! You could do so much with them, it’s unreal!” Shigeo tilts his head, and he notices that Ritsu and Mabel have stopped and are now watching them, one wary and one curious. Shigeo knows Ritsu must be thinking of what happened last week.

“I could, but I can’t use them to get the things I would like most. And… My brother and I have met a lot of adults who thought the world was theirs just because they had psychic powers, and they hurt a lot of people because of that. I think I would rather live my life working hard at becoming who I want to be without using my powers than ending up like the adults I’ve met.”

Dipper and Mabel are gaping at him, but Ritsu is smiling softly, and Shigeo feels his heart swell for a moment before settling. After a few minutes Dipper picks up his questioning again, and Shigeo lets Ritsu handle answering his increasingly complicated inquires and walks quietly beside Mabel, who is looking at him thoughtfully. Shigeo flushes under her attention and she giggles before beginning to chatter about her cat, and Shigeo hangs on to her every word.

_73%_

 

* * *

 

 

“Ah, Kageyama, you can’t catch a break, can you?” Hanazawa Teruki’s voice sounds different through the laptop Shigeo is using to video chat with his friend. Ritsu only stopped by the motel room before leaving again with Dipper, citing needing more time with his explanations as his reason. Shigeo didn’t mind, as Ritsu and Hanazawa liked to snipe petty comments at each other instead of conversation even with Shigeo in the room. Hanazawa was currently seated on his bed and Shigeo can barely make out the sounds of his master in the background.

“Correct.” Hanazawa laughs, and Shigeo is thankful his friend is taking this so well considering the events that occurred not even 8 days ago. Shigeo is sure Reigen is going to take it not as well, and Shigeo doesn’t envy Hanazawa for having to explain it once he gets off the phone.

“Well, there’s nothing for it. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure this out easily, Kageyama. In the meantime, we can continue our study sessions over webcam. I might flunk the written portion of English without you, after all.” Hanazawa says, and Shigeo hums in agreement. They talk for a while after that before Reigen yells to Hanazawa to get ready for school. Shigeo is already feeling more at ease after talking with him, and he closes the laptop and lays back on the bed. It was only 2:00 in the afternoon, but he didn’t want to do anything else for the day without Ritsu, and he was still with the Pines twins. He barely notices when his eyes slip close and he falls seamlessly into sleep.

_74%_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect maybe one more update before the week is out. I'm on spring break right now, so I'm using the time to rewatch both shows and flesh out the plot of the next ten chapters or so. 
> 
> Notes:  
> -Shipping isn't a main focus, but there will be possible hints at crushes and such. If that ever changes, I'll let everyone know in advance.  
> -Yes, Teruki is living with Reigen. He went with Reigen after the events of WD arc, and then Reigen basically adopted him.  
> -The chapter titles from here on out will contain hints to things that'll happen, as in the normal Gravity Falls fashion  
> -I like Mabel.

**Author's Note:**

> yep. the satss discord is filled with filthy enablers 
> 
> Onto the more serious notes, this is gonna be a long fic that spans the gravity falls timeline but deviates mostly from it, aside from key episodes. Some notes on this:
> 
> -I'm reworking some plot points from Gravity Falls. They'll be revealed in time  
> -As for the Mob Psycho 100 timeline, if it was a bit vague, this takes place directly after the World Domination Arc.  
> -There will be meta and theories on psychic powers and espers. This is Dipper "Overthinking" Pines, of course he's going to obsessively study psychic powers when they're available to him.  
> -This will be mostly gen, with some background relationships.  
> -Updates will be on no set schedule, but I'm aiming towards at least one or two chapters a month. 
> 
> Big shoutout to bunnyscribe, who was my lovely beta. Check out their work; they've got good stuff going on!


End file.
